We'll be taking a cruise of the Southern Caribbean in December. We would prefer to take taxis rather than RCCL ship excursions most of the time, unless there is a "don't miss" ship excursion that we should sign up for. We are in our late sixties, and traveling with our son and his family - late thirties and a three year old. We may split up for some of our excursions.

Does anyone have recommendations for us?

It's really hard to make a recommendation without knowing the kinds of things you like to do--beaches, snorkeling, history, hiking, biking, gardens, adventure excursions, museums, art, shopping, etc, etc.

I agree with Abram you must specify your interests which could be varied with the age group range. We went to Dickensons Bay in Antigua. It was an aweome beach, with a little restaurant at the end. It is a short taxi ride from the ship. St Thomas we did Megans Bay twice. If you like to snorkel you can manage a ferry ride to St. John's. St. Lucia there is a great tour we enjoyed. http://www.jungletoursstlucia.com/

Check out there web site. We are in our late 50's it is in an open jeep. Not sure about the 3 year old on this one. Either way you will all have a good time.

To answer your questions, we have three different scenarios:

1)When all five of us are traveling together, we will want to see things that will interest a three year old.

2)When we go off on our own, we like to see either interesting sights, scenery, short hikes, or go to a very walkable beach.

3)When we have the three year old with us, our son and his wife would prefer to see rainforests and other scenery. (Our daughter-in-law doesn't like beaches.)

As you can see, we cover a lot of bases between us.

St. Thomas - lots of taxis at dock and it is easy to arrange a short tour. If you want to go to a beach, we liked Coki Beach.
St. Martin - once again lots of taxis at the pier. We like Orient beach.
St. Lucia - I really recommend some sort of catamaran tour to The Pitons.
Antigua: I have been there a couple of times. The best tour I had was with Lawrence - website
www.lawrenceofantigua.com